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CU to segregate dorms for students with concealed carry permits

By Ryan ParkerThe Denver Post

Posted:
08/16/2012 10:27:52 AM MDT

Updated:
08/16/2012 03:45:47 PM MDT

2009 Denver Post file photo: The University of Colorado Police Department has a gun locker, where students can store their weapons through the school year. Mostly they store shotguns, and handguns, but they also have a few swords and paint ball guns. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

The University of Colorado Boulder and University of Colorado at Colorado Springs are amending their student housing contracts, segregating students who possess a valid concealed weapons carry permit.

The university said Thursday that both campuses will establish a residential area for students over the age of 21 with a permit. In all other dormitories, guns will be banned, the new policy states.

"The main dorms on the main campus will not allow any concealed carry weapons," CU Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard said.

In addition, attendees at ticketed athletic and cultural events, such as football games and theater, on both campuses, will not be permitted to bring their guns, officials said.

"We are treating that ticket purchase as a contractual agreement that you won't bring your weapon to the venue," Hilliard said

Less than 1 percent of the student body population of each campus is believed to have a concealed carry permit, school officials said.

The university has been working on the policy since March when the Colorado Supreme Court upheld an appeals court ruling that struck down CU's gun ban. The court said the Board of Regents overstepped its authority by refusing to allow permitted concealed weapons on campuses, in leased buildings and in any area under control of university police, officials said.

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James Manley, the lawyer for the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to individual liberty and free enterprise, said the organization is studying the university policy change.

"We still need to see the actual language of the policy before we make a decision on how to proceed," said Manley, who argued in court against the original CU ban.

Those with a permit may still live in dorms on both campuses, but may not have weapons in their possession in those general living quarters, officials said.

"They may store their gun with police," said Deb Coffin, vice chancellor for student affairs for the Boulder campus.

Students at both campuses were informed via email about the change and what their options were should they choose to move to one of the dorms designated for weapons.

In Boulder, those who want to lawfully carry their gun must live in the family housing units downtown, Coffin said.

"We can accommodate about 50 students with permits, but don't believe we'll have anywhere near that number," she said.

Those obtaining a concealed carry permit must be 21 years old. Four percent of the student population living in Boulder dorms are 21, Hilliard said.

Students on both campuses living in housing designated for weapons must keep their guns in a safe in their unit when the firearm is not on their person, officials said.

Ryan Huff, spokesman for CU Boulder police, said the department has not received any complaints or calls to check a permit since the Colorado Supreme Court ruling in March.

The Colorado Springs campus will allow those with a permit, who want the gun in their possession, to live in upperclassmen dorms, officials said.

"We have very few individual units, so those who wish to have the concealed carry must have permission from their roommate," said Tom Hutton, spokesman for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

UCCS housing department estimated there are 95 students who are 21 or older living in university housing, which is about 9 percent of the total residents, Hutton said.

"Of the total UCCS student body population, which should exceed 10,000 this year, we estimate that less than 1 percent will have a concealed carry permit," he said.

Kurt Mueller, director of strategy of Students for Concealed Carry, a national organization that advocates for legal concealed carry on college campuses, said the group has an issue with the CU change.

"We're going to look into it further, but it's not surprising that the campuses are trying to circumvent the Colorado Supreme Court ruling," Mueller said.

He said to the best of his knowledge Colorado is not more or less aggressive than other states when it comes to the conceal carry issue on college campuses.

Patrick T. O'Rourke, vice president of the Board of Regents, stated in a CU release that the amendments to the housing contracts are lawful.

"In contrast to other public buildings, student housing presents a relationship that is essentially landlord-tenant," O'Rourke said.

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